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On January 10, 1946, a small group of men bounced radio waves
off the moon—and the world has never been the same.
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of this event,
Cindy Stodola Pomerleau, daughter of the lead scientist
E. King Stodola, has written a book of essays not only about the
scientific triumph but about the men who made it happen
and about growing up in post World War II America.
Cindy Stodola Pomerleau
memoirist, essayist, blogger
Cindy Stodola Pomerleau was born in the tiny Jersey Shore town of Neptune in 1943. After earning a doctoral degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania, she directed an Oral History Project on Women in Medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. She then pursued an additional degree in psychology and neuroscience and spent the rest of her professional career on the research faculty of the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry, with a particular focus on cigarette smoking and nicotine dependence in women.
Whatever else she was doing in life, she continued to write books for adults and children, short stories, and newspaper and magazine articles. Having retired, she now devotes full time to her "postprofessional career" of memoir- and essay-writing. She and Ovide, her husband of 56 years, live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a cat named Domino who graciously allows them to share his home. They have two daughters, two sons-in-law, two grandchildren aged 20 and 15, and two grand-cats.
Whatever else she was doing in life, she continued to write books for adults and children, short stories, and newspaper and magazine articles. Having retired, she now devotes full time to her "postprofessional career" of memoir- and essay-writing. She and Ovide, her husband of 56 years, live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a cat named Domino who graciously allows them to share his home. They have two daughters, two sons-in-law, two grandchildren aged 20 and 15, and two grand-cats.
To the Moon and Back:
Essays on the Life and Times of Project Diana
On January 10, 1946, the US Army successfully bounced radio waves off the moon--the first-ever extraterrestrial communication, the birth of radar astronomy, and the opening salvo in the Cold War. The author was just shy of three years old at the time, and her father, E. King Stodola, was Scientific Director of the team that carried out the experiment, code-named Project Diana.
To mark the 75th anniversary of this historic event, Cindy Stodola Pomerleau has written a series of essays using Project Diana as a lens for examining the transformations and dislocations occurring in the US during World War II and its aftermath. Nearly half the book is devoted to World War II, with particular attention to the history of radar at Camp Evans, starting with its fumbling beginnings at Pearl Harbor and culminating in its stunning success in Project Diana. The second section is devoted to King Stodola himself and an examination of the confluence of internal and external factors that made him the right man for the moment. The last section provides a sampler of Jersey Shore life (e.g., the boardwalk, the Neptune Music Circus), contemporary American life (e.g., Sears, nylon stockings), and the author's little-girl activities (e.g., her parakeet Archie, her Islander ukulele).
Steeped in good humor and nostalgia, these wide-ranging narratives explore Project Diana's historical, sociological, political, and scientific context, as seen from the perspective of the tiny coastal New Jersey community where fate in the form of Camp Evans deposited the author's parents and their neighbors. The book is a unique eye-witness account of an event and an era that marked a turning point in American history.
To mark the 75th anniversary of this historic event, Cindy Stodola Pomerleau has written a series of essays using Project Diana as a lens for examining the transformations and dislocations occurring in the US during World War II and its aftermath. Nearly half the book is devoted to World War II, with particular attention to the history of radar at Camp Evans, starting with its fumbling beginnings at Pearl Harbor and culminating in its stunning success in Project Diana. The second section is devoted to King Stodola himself and an examination of the confluence of internal and external factors that made him the right man for the moment. The last section provides a sampler of Jersey Shore life (e.g., the boardwalk, the Neptune Music Circus), contemporary American life (e.g., Sears, nylon stockings), and the author's little-girl activities (e.g., her parakeet Archie, her Islander ukulele).
Steeped in good humor and nostalgia, these wide-ranging narratives explore Project Diana's historical, sociological, political, and scientific context, as seen from the perspective of the tiny coastal New Jersey community where fate in the form of Camp Evans deposited the author's parents and their neighbors. The book is a unique eye-witness account of an event and an era that marked a turning point in American history.
To order your copy NOW:
amazon.com:
Kindle (e-book) edition
Black and white edition
Deluxe full color edition
InfoAge Science & History Museums:
gift shop located at 2201 Marconi Rd, Wall NJ 07719
to order by mail, call 732-280-3000
Kindle (e-book) edition
Black and white edition
Deluxe full color edition
InfoAge Science & History Museums:
gift shop located at 2201 Marconi Rd, Wall NJ 07719
to order by mail, call 732-280-3000